Ethics · Society · Theology · Mission · Sociology of Religions
Due to the criticism, that he had abandoned the doctrinal foundations of the Christian faith in favour of a purely experiential religion in a speech given in Bogotá at the Global Christian Forum, the Associate Secretary-General for Theological Concerns of the World Evangelical Alliance, Thomas Schirrmacher, has now made his speech available to the public in German and in English language.
Christians are called to take up together the challenges of peace, unity, and costly discipleship the Global Christian Forum has said in a 27 April closing message to the churches of the world sent from Bogotá, Colombia.
As was announced only now due to security reasons, the Syrian-Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II and the Associate Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, Bishop Thomas Schirrmacher, two days before Christmas 2017 addressed the highest Muslim leaders of 40 countries and called upon them to protect their Christian minorities.
My article on „Christian Witness in a multi-religious World“ (2011) in the magazine of the Protestant Association of Germany (Evangelischer Bund) is currently only available in German.
Thomas Schirrmacher published his speech at the opening of the religious freedom chair at the Gießen School of Theology. In it he thanks Hermann Gröhe for the “most momentous rebuke in all my life”.
In this article I am concerned with the question whether apologetics of the Christian faith towards other religions and world views is basically compatible with an interreligious dialogue.
A professorship dedicated to the topic of “religious freedom and research on persecution of Christians” is a novelty in German speaking areas. At the inauguration special emphasis was placed on the universality of the human right to freedom of religion or belief and its positive implications.